Stair balustrade

The glass line follows the flight, handrail integrated.

The product

The same glass, but nothing is square

No two steps in a flight are identical: everything is surveyed, nothing is ordered from a drawing.

A stair balustrade uses the same channels as the straight version. What changes is elsewhere: the rake. The channel is installed on the slope, the glass becomes a trapezium, and every panel has its own dimensions. There is no such thing as a standard stair panel, and a flight ordered from drawing dimensions comes back wrong by a few millimetres almost every time.

The real difficulty is the junction between flight and landing. That is where the rake returns to horizontal, where two channels meet at an angle that is never round, and where the handrail has to pass without a visible break. We survey that angle on site and transfer it to the workshop — that point is what separates a clean installation from an improvised one.

On a stringer stair, side mounting avoids drilling the tread and leaves the nosing clear. On a concrete flight, base-plate mounting or casting into the edge gives the slimmest line. The choice is therefore made on what the structure allows, not from a catalogue.

The handrail is not optional here: it is required on a staircase, at grip height measured on the walking line. We integrate it into the glass with a U-channel cap, or we move it to the wall where the glass stops lower — both are quoted, and the result is not the same.

Every panel is trapezoidal and unique: survey mandatory, flight by flight
Flight-to-landing angle surveyed on site, never taken from the drawing
Side mounting on the stringer: no tread drilling, no obstructed nosing
Handrail required, integrated into the glass or moved to the wall
Laminated glass without exception — a staircase is a fall zone

The range

Stair balustrade, model by model

Each section drawing is that of the system as actually installed. The dimensions beside it are the values the system is approved for, not ballpark figures.

GC-40

Base-plate channel

Application: Private, commercial and public
Glass: 12 – 21,52 mm
Load: 1,0 kN/m
Centres: 200 mm

GC-50

Side-mounted channel, on the stringer

Application: Private and commercial
Glass: 12 – 21,52 mm
Load: 0,6 kN/m
Centres: 3 fixations par 2,5 m

GC-30

Reinforced cast-in channel

Application: Private, commercial and public
Glass: 12 – 21,52 mm
Load: 2,0 kN/m
Centres: 360 mm

PV-30

Certified stainless clamp, on the stringer

Application: Private and commercial
Glass: 8 – 12,76 mm
Centres: 700 mm maximum

Compare

The channels installed on the rake

These are the channels from the straight range, approved for raking installation. We do not create a separate stair reference: it is the same system, the same test and the same hardware — only the cutting changes.

Compared specifications of the profiles in the range
Model	Application	Glass thickness	Approved load	Fixing centres	Lengths
GC-40Base-plate channel	Private, commercial and public	12 – 21,52 mm	1,0 kN/m	200 mm	2,5 m · 5 m
GC-50Side-mounted channel, on the stringer	Private and commercial	12 – 21,52 mm	0,6 kN/m	3 fixations par 2,5 m	2,5 m · 5 m
GC-30Reinforced cast-in channel	Private, commercial and public	12 – 21,52 mm	2,0 kN/m	360 mm	2,5 m · 5 m
PV-30Certified stainless clamp, on the stringer	Private and commercial	8 – 12,76 mm	—	700 mm maximum	—

The loads shown are those the system is approved for. Final sizing depends on the use of the space and the wind pressure at the site — that is what we check during the survey.

Downloads

The documents for this range

A4 data sheets, one per profile: vertical section, dimensions, finishes. Final dimensions are set at the site survey.

Non-contractual documents · Current edition

Downloads

System documentation

Mounting instructions, brochures, technical data sheets and certifications for the systems we install, in their original version.

Buyer's guide · 1

4.8 MBBuyer guide turboflex EN

Brochures · 2

Mounting instructions · 2

Certifications · 18

Document	Country	Language	PDF
Avis Technique 2.1/15-1674_V6	FR	FR	7.2 MB
Loading test accoring BS 6180:2011 Model: 3011	UK	EN	981 KB
Mechanical test \| SINTEF \| Model: 6020 \| 6021 \| 3010 \|\| 3011 \| 6030 \| 6031 \| NS 3510:2015	Norway	NO	4.8 MB
Rapport DEssaia N \| Model: 3010/3011 \| CSTB	FR	FR	12.4 MB
Avis Technique \| Model: 3010/3011/3030/3031/6020/6021/6030/6031	FR	FR	3.3 MB
Typenprüfung TL-3030	DE	DE	4.1 MB
Typenprüfung TL-3011	DE	DE	4.3 MB
AbP-LGA Ganzglasgeländer Modell: 3010 \| 3011 \| 3030 \| 3031	DE	DE	793 KB
SIA 261 Schweiz \| Geländersystem Verglasung Tabelle	CH	DE	761 KB
SIA 261 Schweiz \| Geländersystem TL-3011	CH	DE	1.4 MB
Statische berekening Model: 3011	Benelux	NL	2.0 MB
Typenblatt \| TL-3011	DE	DE	3.8 MB
SIA 261 Schweiz \| Geländersystem TF-6620 \| 6621	CH	DE	3.0 MB
Ergebnisse Typenstatik TF-6620 und TF-6621	DE	DE	2.3 MB
Résistance mécanique sur garde-corps Model: 6620 - 88.4 feuilleté trempé HST PVB	FR	FR	1.4 MB
Loading test Model: 6621 according: BS 6180:2011	UK	EN	3.9 MB
Statische berekening Model: 6621	Benelux	NL	5.4 MB
AbP-LGA Ganzglasgeländer Modell: TF-6620 \| TF-6621 \| TF-3620 \| TF-3621	Allemagne	DE	1.8 MB

2D drawings · 12

One PDF drawing per article number, served by the manufacturer.

All drawings in the manufacturer's download centre ↗

Swiss compliance

What SIA requires, what the system carries

The load quoted on a product sheet is the one the system has been tested to carry. SIA 261 sets what Switzerland requires according to the use of the space. The two scales do not line up — here is the comparison, done for you.

SIA 261 — horizontal load, measured at 1.20 m at most

Dwellings, offices, retail: 0,8 kN/m
Assembly areas: 1,6 kN/m
Assembly with crowd movement: 3,0 kN/m

What each profile covers

GC-401,0 kN/mHabitation, bureaux, commerces
GC-500,6 kN/mNot as fall protection
GC-302,0 kN/mSurfaces de rassemblement

SIA 358 — heights and openings

Protection required fromSIA 358: 1.00 m fall height
Minimum balustrade heightSIA 358: 1.00 m from the walking surface
Minimum height on a stair flightSIA 358: 0.90 m
Increase beyond 12 m fall heightrecommandation bpa: + 10 cm, i.e. 1.10 m
Maximum opening, child protectionSIA 358: 12 cm
In built-up areas, to be checked fromSN 640 075 / SN 640 568: 40 cm fall height

Worth knowing

GC-50 is tested to 0,6 kN/m, below the 0.8 kN/m that SIA 261 requires for a balustrade. We install them where the element is not a fall-protection device — a screen, a partition, a spandrel under one metre — and we point you elsewhere as soon as it is. This is not a check you want to make at handover.

Figures taken from the technical brochure of the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention, which summarises SIA 261 and SIA 358. They frame the choice; they do not replace the engineer's verification, which we ask for as soon as the element falls outside the ordinary case. Final sizing happens at the survey.

Finish

What the hand touches on every climb

On a staircase, the finish is not a question of appearance: it is the only surface in the building everyone touches several times a day. A mirror polish will be covered in marks within a week, a matt powder coating absorbs them, brushed stainless is revived with a pass of the pad along the grain.

Timber on an aluminium core remains the most pleasant in the hand, especially in a cold stairwell: it does not take on the temperature of the space. In return it demands maintenance nobody does, and it greys. To be offered knowingly, not by default.

.BR: Brushed stainless, 240 grit — handrail
.AN: Natural anodised
.18: RAL matt
.16: RAL matt textured
.NM: Deep matt black

The drawing

Drawn before it is installed

Every piece starts from a workshop drawing dimensioned to the half-millimetre. That is what guarantees a true line once on site.

Installed

Stair balustrade, once installed

Views of systems equivalent to the ones we install. Our own projects will fill this page as they are handed over.

Frequently asked questions

About stair balustrade

01Can it be ordered from the architect's drawing dimensions?

No, and it is the first thing we say. A concrete stair comes out with formwork tolerances of several millimetres, a steel stair distorts on welding, and the screed arrives afterwards. The survey is carried out on the finished structure, step by step. That is what explains the interval between order and installation.

02At what height the balustrade and the handrail?

In Switzerland the balustrade is measured at 1.00 m from the walking line, and 1.10 m as soon as the fall height exceeds 12 metres. The handrail is taken lower, at grip height. On a flight, both heights are measured vertically from the nosing, never from the riser — that is the mistake that fails a handover.

03Do the treads have to be drilled?

Not if you mount at the side, on the stringer or on the edge of the flight: the glass passes alongside, the tread stays intact and the nosing keeps its usable width. In refurbishment that is almost always the better option, since drilling an existing tread means finding the reinforcement.

04How is the junction between flight and landing handled?

By an angle surveyed on site and reproduced in the workshop. Two schools of thought: the glass is cut into two panels meeting at the angle, which gives a clean edge and a slight shadow; or the handrail alone provides continuity above a glass joint. The second is more forgiving if the masonry is out of plumb.

05What glass thickness on a staircase?

Laminated, always, and the thickness follows the span between fixings as on a straight balustrade. Mounted on a continuous channel you are most often in 16.76 or 17.52 mm; on clamps, in 12.76 mm. What decides is not the rake but the distance between supports, exactly as on the flat.

06Can the handrail be illuminated?

Yes, and on a staircase it genuinely earns its place — it is the one part of a building where marker lighting replaces ceiling lighting. The LED profile is installed in the handrail or under the glass cap. The supply is planned in advance: it cannot be retrofitted.

07Are the systems certified?

The systems we install are certified, and the approval explicitly covers raking installation for the profiles concerned. We attach to the quote the documents for the chosen variant.

The systems we install are certified